The Relationship Between a Reader's Self-Concept and Achievement: Which Aspect Matters the Most and for Whom?

Although both theory and research assert the importance of a reader’s self-concept, we lack a nuanced understanding of the underlying subcomponents of reading self-concept as they relate to achievement and whether this relationship might differ for developing readers. In the present study, we examined the reading self-concepts of nearly 500 4th grade and 5th grade students. Using a bivariate correlational analysis, three subcomponents were examined to consider how they independently related to students' reading comprehension. In addition to considering these relationships for the entire sample, we also looked at how the association differed for developing readers compared with advanced readers using multiple regression analyses. Results suggest that perceptions of difficulty and attitudes contributed to variance when the entire sample was considered, but when students were divided into groups based on ability, only perceptions of competence mattered and only for the advanced readers. Our findings clarify that a reader's perception of difficulty is most related to achievement, but only for advanced readers. Further, by revealing no significant relationship between aspects of self-concept and achievement for developing readers, our findings hint at the possible preceding importance of some degree of proficiency.